The Full Gospel in Zion

Explores the enduring legacy of Pentecostalism as a critical aspect of Utah history.

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In The Full Gospel in Zion, Alan J. Clark explores the dynamic history of Pentecostalism in Utah. Although the story of Pentecostalism now spans the entire globe, there is no previous study of its growth and development among the mountains and valleys of the Beehive State. This book recovers and reveals the identities of the earliest Pentecostal pioneers across the state and places the founding churches within the historical narrative of Utah religion in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

Utah Pentecostals encountered a unique religious community in which to evangelize, and it presented them with unanticipated difficulties. Pentecostals were forced to interact with members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to an intimate and constant degree, owing to their large religious majority in the region. Pentecostal/Latter-day Saint interactions revealed surprising similarities in belief and unexpected obstacles in evangelism, as Latter-day Saints did not respond as other Christians did to the Pentecostal message, pushing Pentecostals to develop new approaches to establishing churches and congregations in Utah. Clark uses newspaper archives, local congregational histories, and dozens of interviews to tell the story of Utah Pentecostals presents a new and fascinating exploratione of Utah’s rich religious history during the twentieth century.